The anti-virus industry kind of reminds me of purchasing health insurance. Unless your purchase is subsidized, it seems not to matter if you purchase catastrophic, all inclusive, or any coverage between. The actuaries have it figured so there is no "smart buy." You get ripped off royally no matter how you try to amortize it.
Some problems I work on Windows forums, after some Q&A exchanges the poster then relates the fact that he or she is running 3 or 4 overlapping products simultaneously. It's lucky the machine runs at all. If you don't know how the machine works I guess the scare tactics can be quite effective.
The trouble with arguing against AV on forums, other than that the interest on the other side is vested, is that to make your point you have to give away your disaster avoidance/recovery strategies.
It's kind of like trying to ban the "Genuine Placebo" ads in the back of magazines. The magazines get revenue to run them. You get nothing out of pointing out the folly(except the joy inherent in pointing out follies of course.)
